Hercules (2014)

Hercules Synopsis

Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’ film Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson, bows on July 25th. Based on Radical Comics’ Hercules by Steve Moore, this ensemble-action film is a revisionist take on the classic myth, Hercules. The epic action film also stars Golden Globe Winner Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan and Academy Award®-nominee John Hurt.

Here on Cinema Blend, we've spent a good chunk of the past month celebrating the best in cinema that 2014 had to offer, but now we're going to switch gears and talk about the opposite side of the quality scale. But rather than slamming these titles ourselves, the following video allows those less-than-great features to slam themselves.

Now that we’ve officially passed the Halloween hump and put a slew of seasonal horror releases behind us, the studios have plenty of Christmas titles they are already pumping and dumping this year. But don’t worry. There are some big releases, too, starting with Disney’s blockbuster, Maleficent.

Disney’s 35th original animated feature is not one of the most memorable in the company’s canon. Regardless, it is an enjoyable—and strikingly weird—addition to the Disney universe, one that can now be enjoyed in full High Definition glory. Otherwise, the musical spectacle is about the same as it ever was.

We will have a review of Hercules on the site soon. In the meantime, enjoy this raw footage of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s rock-star appearance in Hall H. It might be the most entertaining clip you’ll watch this week.

Outspoken comics creator Alan Moore has made headlines over an upcoming movie, which would typically mean he's denouncing said movie. Yup. This time it's Hercules, a film that he personally has nothing to do with.

Man, what a rough week for movies. Thankfully the weather is great, the sun is out, the air is warm, and we can find a million excuses to stay away from the theaters. That’s what happens when we get Hercules, Lucy and tired old stories posing as comedies hitting the big screen.

But is it enough? The trailer doesn't seem to sell much else besides the presence of Johnson. For one, the conflict is still unclear, so it just seems like a bunch of interconnected, and not particularly exciting-looking action sequences.

Which is why we've decided to break down most of the summer's offerings, observing exactly what it is about some films that cause them to succeed and fail. This involved number crunching, market analysis, educated guesses, and the application of a few snobby biases.

We've handpicked sixteen big summer releases and matched them up with an NBA title contender. Some connect tenuously, superficially. Others have unusual similarities, borderline creepy. But at least it's all at your fingertips.

A new clip from Brett Ratner's Hercules was newly released by MTV, as part of a promotion for their 2014 Movie Awards. Could this be another unexpected silver lining in the career of Brett Ratner, or could this trigger massive 'Scorpion King'-centric night terrors? You be the judge.

We are treated to Dwayne Johnson taking on all forms of historical, mythical and supernatural creatures. It is a throwback to a Clash of the Titans level of swords and sorcery. And it looks about as bad ass as you might have hoped!

Of course, we’ve seen many different versions of Hercules over the years, from the 1983 movie with Lou Ferrigno to the 90s television series starring Kevin Sorbo, so what makes this version so different? As part of the on-going CinemaCon expo, yesterday morning I was invited along with a small group of other journalists to sit down for a special roundtable discussion with Johnson to talk about his latest film.

The last time that we saw the Greek hero Hercules up on the big screen was back in 1997 when Walt Disney Animation adapted the Greek myth as their 35th film. In two weeks time we will get our first look at what promises to be an extremely different vision for the legend when the first trailer for Brett Ratner's Hercules arrives online.

These potential blockbusters have a little selling to do, though, and Super Bowl Sunday is the ideal opportunity to fire a winning bow over the heads of ticket buyers. Here are the eight summer tentpole pictures that we think should make a splash next Sunday with an eye-popping Super Bowl advertisement.

We’re going to go ahead and assume these ten aren’t going to be the films that surprise us all that much. The writing seems to be on the wall as far as talent involved, quality of promotional material, and behind-the-scenes gossip.

Part of me is pretty geared up for Harlin’s insanely over-the-top The Legend of Hercules. We get to see quite a bit of the battle scenes in these four new clips, plus Kellan Lutz’s titular character nearing a possibly forbidden makeout session with Hebe (Gaia Weiss). While I’m sure it wasn’t against any laws for Lutz to wear a shirt during the production of this film, there must have been some kind of a contractual obligation warning against it.

Can I go on the shame-filled record to say that I’m actually quite interested in seeing this, and it probably has a lot to do with the 300 similarities. After a year of seeing multiple takeovers of the White House and different battles between humans and creatures, I’m rather looking forward to a movie where muscular men just beat the shit out of one another. If it all has to tie into a truncated origin story of Hercules, so be it.

If you don’t follow The Rock on Twitter, you’re making a big mistake. His account is a hodgepodge of funny comments, aggressive commands about hitting up the gym and reveals about the bazillion movie projects he always seems to be working on. As you can tell from the above image, this is an example of that last category.

In one corner, as Hercules, you have Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a gigantic human and genuine movie star who will allow you to have faith in what feels like the umpteenth Hercules movie. And in the other corner, you have Kellan Lutz, a Twilight hunk and notably less gigantic human, who is also playing Hercules. And, as you can tell in the above teaser, it's the Lutz version we're getting our first look at

Those who've stared long enough at Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might be familiar enough with the actor's sculpted physique to recognize the sight of his bicep and triceps without actually seeing his face. If that's the case, the above video needs very little introduction to clue you in as to who we're looking at.

Dwayne Johnson, one of the most charismatic actors working in action movies today, is playing coy about his look in Brett Ratner's upcoming film Hercules. Over the last few weeks the star has shared a number of behind-the-scenes photos from the film, but each time he has had his face obscured or hidden from the camera. That tradition continues today with yet another picture of The Rock on set.

We learned yesterday that principal photography on Brett Ratner's Hercules had begun. What's star Dwayne Johnson been up to since things got rolling on the MGM and Paramount Pictures film? At least three hours has been spent sitting in a chair while he's made-over to play the title role in the film.

Director Brett Ratner has been developing his adaptation of Hercules for years now. First entering talks for the gig back in July of 2010, he got a bit sidetracked making the 2011 crime comedy Tower Heist, but has been focused on Greek myth since then, hiring box office superstar Dwayne Johnson to play the titular hero and collect a supporting cast that includes Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, Aksel Hennie and John Hurt. And now cameras are finally ready to start rolling.

Kellan Lutz has signed on to front Harlin's Hercules 3D. And while the young star may not be as well known as The Rock, he does have the box office power of the Twilight fandom behind him. Having played Emmett Cullen in the wildly popular vamp-romance saga, Lutz has secured a devoted fan following that could give Harlin's Hercules 3D just the edge it needs to compete with Ratner's production.

With the G.I. Joe sequel due out in theaters next weekend, the star sat down with journalists, including myself, for a press day held in Los Angeles, and in addition to discussing his latest film, also talked about what he has in store for us in the coming years...

Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes, John Hurt, and Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson have signed on to the tent pole pic. As this version of the Hercules story has its burly hero not as a god, but as mortal with a band of badass fellow mercenaries, we can assume some of this lot will play Johnson's comrades in arms.

The report doesn't go into any detail about how Sewell will play Autolycus the new movie, but fans of 90s shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules will probably remember the name from the fantastic portrayal of the character by the one and only Bruce Campbell.

Based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars, the film won't involve the supernatural elements of the classic Greek myth and instead is said to be a more grounded story. The script was written by newcomer Ryan Condal, and had touch-ups done by Evan Spiliotopoulos.

Since his breakout in the Norwegian thriller Headhunters, actor Aksel Hennie has been making his way deeper and deeper into the Hollywood system. He recently made his English-language debut alongside Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen in the Kazuaki Kiriya-directed action/adventure film The Last Knights...

Last November the upcoming live-action film about the legend of Hercules took some major step forwards. With Brett Ratner already attached to helm the project it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would be playing the titular lead. What's more, a deal was forged between Paramount and MGM in which the two studios would agree to co-produce the title.

Rather than being the story from the Greek myth, the supernatural elements will be taken out of the equation and the plot will be an adaptation of the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars by Steve Moore and Admira Wijaya. Ryan Condal wrote the script.

In 2013 alone, Johnson has the undercover drama Snitch (which he’s currently filming with Susan Sarandon)< Empire State for director Dito Montiel, and the sixth Fast and the Furious, which announced a May 13, 2013 release date. Audiences seem to love Johnson in these roles, and I’d much rather see him putting his physical talents to work in stuff like Ciudad than The Tooth Fairy.

The Rock is pretty much "no duh" casting in terms of playing a buff warrior, and though at 40 this year he's a little older than you might think his starpower more than makes up for that. The real question is how he'll make the time-- he's attached to Michael Bay's Pain and Gain as well as the next Fast and Furious movie

Who's heartbroken about this? Who wishes Brett Ratner would just settle down with his millions and leave us all alone? The guy hasn't released a feature since 2007's Rush Hour 3, so can't we all be optimistic and assume he's gotten more talented in the intervening years?

They've got five projects in the works, all of them based around previous films-- remakes of Robocop, Mr. Mom and the 1980 drama The Idolmaker, plus another film based around Hercules and a fourth Poltergeist film.

Ratner is in talks to direct a live-action Hercules film for Conan producers Nu Image/Millenium. Apparently he wants to prove to the masses that he can make a Gladiator clone since he didn’t get the job when Nu Image